The present invention relates to devices for dispensing heated flowable products such as personal care products (e.g. heated shaving lotions and skin lotions), home cleaning products, or any other type of product that is desired to be heated and which can withstand an elevated temperature above an ambient temperature. More specifically it relates to such devices that have portable containers that can be energized by a base unit to heat products, as well as to structures that permit heated products to be dispensed from the container adjacent the base or alternatively remote there from.
Certain personal care products, cleaners and other compositions are advantageously used in a heated condition. For example, many prefer to shave using heated shave cream to help soften the beard as well as provide desirable skin feel. Similarly, some skin lotions (e.g. particularly massaging lotions) are preferably delivered when heated.
To this end barbers and other personal care workers have been known to maintain large containers of shaving creams and the like that are consistently heated so as to be readily available for application to customers throughout the day. Some similar systems have been developed for home use. However, continuous heating of a main reservoir of cream or lotion risks degradation of the cream or lotion over time, and in any event uses unnecessary amounts of energy.
A variety of devices have been developed in which the cream or lotion is stored in a main container and only the portion about to be used is heated in an adaptor or other heater system adjacent an outlet. Many of these systems use an electrical cord to link an adaptor mounted on an aerosol or other container to a power supply. While such systems do have some utility, they limit the consumer's ability to use the dispenser at a location remote from the power supply. For example, women may prefer to shave their legs in the shower and it is impractical to use such cord linked systems within a shower environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,127 disclosed a container which contained a liquid to be dispensed. An adaptor was positioned at the top of the container with a pump. The adaptor was powered by a separate base. With this system the heated liquid being dispensed could be dispensed adjacent a power base (e.g. at a counter top), or the container can be removed from the base and taken to a remote location where, for some period of time, enough heat remained in the adaptor so that heated liquid could be dispensed from the container remote from the base. However, this system relied on an awkward pumping mechanism, and has certain other deficiencies.
Another concern with some prior art systems, particularly those relying on pumping or pressurized containers, is that even after a consumer has stopped activating the dispensing apparatus, because of residual pressure in the outlet area, and/or the expandable/foaming nature of the cream or lotion being delivered, the nozzle will have a tendency to “drool” during the next hour or so, leaving a somewhat unsightly appearance. The drooled material will be exposed to air and therefore also degrade.
Still other systems are designed for delivering heated lotions, creams or other materials where the system has undesirably small capacity (e.g. certain aerosol systems), or is difficult to refill or provide replacement supply for.
In still other such devices the device requires extended warm-up time to cause a desired amount of cream or lotion to be heated to the desired temperature, or is designed in a way that if more than a relatively small amount of lotion or cream is dispensed within a short time period the device will begin to deliver insufficiently heated product.
In still other such devices the means of causing the delivery of the heated product when at a base station is awkward and/or inefficient and/or non-intuitive.
It is also of concern that these devices typically require the use of a human hand to work the cream or lotion into or against the skin. Consumers may prefer not to use this manner of applying the cream or lotion, and/or for some purposes this manner of applying the product may not be optimal.
It can therefore be seen that improvements are desired with respect to product dispensers that dispense heated creams, lotions or the like, particularly with respect to the above deficiencies and ways to minimize problems caused by the above deficiencies.